Europe on a plate. Food and drink blogs direct from Phil Lowe, Butcher and Fishmonger. Written with passion and humour. Winner of Tesco 'Passion For Food Award' 2013. Order books and dvds or anything else you desire through the Amazon link below.

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Friday, 16 August 2013

Sampling Colwick cheese in the company of Jamie Oliver.

Tonight I went, on
special invite. to Jamie Oliver's restaurant on Low Pavement in
central Nottingham in my capacity as a passionate food
writer/blogger. Jamies' company – Fresh One TV are making a new
series of food programmes for Channel Four which, each week, are
looking at a variety of food produced in Great Britain. This was part of the second series of Jamie and Jimmy's Food Fight Club. As part of
these programmes there will be a weekly strand featuring a forgotten
food of England which the presenters will be encouraging a return of.
The aim is to revive classic British dishes and drinks that have
disappeared from the public awareness and championing great local
food in the process. For the filming tonight in the beautiful garden
behind Jamie's Italian in Nottingham the food being celebrated and tasted was
the historically very popular and versatile, Colwick cheese.

A food historian called
Matthew O'Callaghan brought back this historic cheese (historically
made as far back as the 1600s) after reading about it in a recipe
book. He has re-introduced the cheese and it is now being
manufactured at Belvoir Ridge Creamery in Leicestershire. The creamy
cheese was shown to great acclaim at the Artisan Cheese Fair in May
this year. The Colwick cheese is now being sold in Nottingham and
North Leicestershire. (source: Nottingham Post).
The staff at Jamies
were very professional and welcoming and going through the restaurant
to the rear garden I could see Jamie Oliver in the distance doing one
of his many filming sessions. The foodie folk who'd been invited to
meet Jamie and sample the lovely Colwick cheese inspired dishes were
starting to arrive and the weather was nice and sunny for the
filming. I spied Rosie from Aubrey's crêperie
in town and a few well known faces from the food world. We were all
advised to temporarily take some shade and a drink of water while
Jamie finished his shoot.

Whilst waiting I met a
very interesting and friendly lady called Hilary who runs a
Nottinghamshire based food business called Lings Lane Larder and she
make jams, jellies, marmalades, fruit curds, chutneys and pickles.
She said that she always uses the very best ingredients - some
responsibly foraged from the wild, others from her garden as well as
top quality imported citrus fruits from independent local
greengrocers. The sugar and spices used in her products are all
fairly traded, and she uses Aspall's vinegars made to traditional
recipes in the county of Suffolk. Hilary is proud to be a member of
the Slow Food Movement and is passionate about great food.

We had a right old
chinwag and a laugh and she was lovely company with a great sense of humour. She
told me that she has her eye on a particular medlar tree, the fruit
being perfect for medlar jam. Medlars are a hardy fruit that look
like a cross between a small apple and a rosehip and do make
wonderful jam and jellies to accompany meats and cheeses.
Eventually there was
some more filming done at various locations around the sunlit and
dappled garden with us mingling foodie folk in the background, Jamie
seemed very relaxed and friendly. At one point all the assembled
guests were invited to sit down at the outdoor tables and the food
items made with Colwick cheese made a grand entrance. There was much
excitement and a big round of applause for our local cheese made from the milk of Red Poll cows.

On our table we sampled
the creamy soft cheese coated in local honey with fresh figs and
grapes and also some delicious Italian brushetta breads with
continental ham, ripe tomatoes, basil and the Colwick cheese. All were very
moreish! The filming carried on around us as we continued to enjoy
the food. The couple opposite myself and Hilary will have a starring
role as the woman was encouraged to be filmed feeding her husband some
of the Colwick cheese on the bruschetta in a way that implied Summer romance.

Thanks to Fresh One TV
for inviting me to a super summer's evening television shoot with
Jamie Oliver and Jimmy Doherty from Doherty's Farm.

This cheese does sound good. And congrats for being picked to attend what must have been a wonderful event. You deserve it - you write so passionately about food. I still remember all those cafe/restaurant reviews you did a while back - & they encouraged us to try some of the places too.

It sounds like a great evening with Jamie, who is fast becoming the food hero himself.He's done a lot to raise awareness of all kinds of food issues, which I wholeheartedly applaud him for.I will look out for the cheese when we are back in Derbyshire, it looks delicious. Tangy soft goats cheese is plentiful in this region of France ....... and I saw the French version of Jamie's magazine on a bookstall at Tours station the other day. I nearly picked one up to try to improve my French but then Nick's train from Paris arrived and it slipped my mind.

Welcome to my food blog

Welcome to my blog. I love writing with humour and real interest about my passions of food. Of late I have got a real passion for the food of The Netherlands and Germany but have never lost my real passion for the food of France. Just get me in front of a French butcher's counter or a quality fish market and I am the happiest man on earth.

Phil Lowe. March 2016.

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